Mexican rancher sues Sempra in U.S. court

A Mexican rancher locked in a land dispute with Sempra Energy over its LNG plant near Ensenada is taking the fight to San Diego federal court.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Ramón Eugenio Sánchez Ritchie claims that a subsidiary of the San Diego-based energy giant illegally took more than 600 acres belonging to him and made false statements that led to his arrest.

“Sempra Energy and Mexican officials executed an attack upon Plaintiff’s land and person,” Sánchez said in the lawsuit, alleging that Sempra and Mexican officials conspired against him.

He also claims that Sempra bribed Mexican officials and had people lie under oath in Mexican court proceedings.

She said the company legally bought the land that Sánchez claims is his and has not acted illegally in the construction of the plant, which was dedicated in 2008.

“He’s a squatter,” Teora said. “So we’re just going by the fact that we legally purchased this property from the rightful owners that had the title to property.”

She said Sánchez and his financial backers are using the courts in an effort to extract money from Sempra.

“Sempra LNG will continue to vigorously defend its investment in the Energía Costa Azul LNG terminal by whatever legal means are necessary, and will protect our right to own the property,” she said

The Energía Costa Azul terminal is the first on the west coast of North America that can accept LNG, natural gas that has been cooled to 260 degrees below zero. The liquefied gas takes up 600 times less space than at room temperature and can be shipped by boat.

The plant has contracts to import gas from Indonesia and Russia, which is then used in the United States and Mexico.

The case has led to protracted litigation in Mexico.

At Sánchez’s request, a Mexican court in May ordered environmental agencies to revoke the plant’s permits. An appeals court later put a stop to that ruling while it weighs the merits of his claims.

The dispute centers on who owns the land. Sánchez says he acquired the land in 1972, and continues to own it. He says a sale in 1992 to two people, Elodia Gómez Castañón and Armando Navarro Peña, was not done correctly.

Sempra says it bought the land from Gómez and Navarro’s representatives in 2006.

Sánchez said he was forcibly removed from the property that year, and his house was flattened as Sempra began construction. He said he was wrongly jailed after Sempra paid Mexican officials $16,000 in cash.

Sánchez claims his land is needed for a buffer zone to operate the plant. Sempra says it is not. It says it owns the land, but that even if it doesn’t, the plant can operate without violating its permits.

Sempra is the parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric Co.

Sánchez claims Sempra violated California law against unfair business practices and is liable for false imprisonment, assault, trespass, battery, fraud and negligence, among other charges. He wants a judge to order Sempra to pay to reimburse him for his losses, plus any profits it may have gotten from operation of the plant.

His San Diego lawyer, Kirk Hulett, said he couldn’t talk about the case.